It's Not Like Or Love, It's Just Something
by Now.Get.This
Summary: DETROIT ROCK CITY. I watched her as she talked excitedly to Rachel. I couldn't take my eyes off her. Right now nothing else matters. "Ahem," I heard Jam cough. I looked at him. "Would ya shut up alright?" I said. You're disturbing me, I thought.


**This is based on the movie Detroit Rock City.  
I don't own the characters Lex, Jam, Hawk and Trip.  
Set in 2009.**

C H A P T E R. O N E.  
_Thursday, March 12 2009_

"Lex, hurry up!" Judd yelled from the bottom of the stairs. I stood at the landing at the top of the stairs, pulling on my shoes. I ran downstairs, stopping just before the door to make sure I had money and my phone. "Hurry!" Judd yelled, pushing me outside to his car. I got in the front seat. "I'm never taking you to school again if you're gonna waste my time," he said angrily as he got in and started up the car. I shrugged and looked out the window. You say that every morning, I thought. Judd pulled out of the driveway and drove faster than the speed limit so I wouldn't be late for school. If I was late one more time I'd get two after school detentions. But if I didn't get caught. . .

I still got to school late. Judd stopped at the back of the school and I got out of the car, slammed the door and walked inside the school gate. The warning bell had gone, everyone was rushing inside. I walked along, my hands in my pockets.

"Hey!" I looked to my right, where the voice had come from. Chelsea was sitting with Rachel on one of the brown benches that are scattered throughout the school. She was grinning at me like a maniac as I slowly walked over to her.

I sat down next to her, "Hey Chels', Rachel," I said, yawning and leaning forward to rest my elbows on my knees.

Chelsea is sixteen and one of my best friends. I've known her since we were nine years old. She has long slightly wavy black hair, cut into a fringe at the front that stops just above her eyes. Her eyes are brown and so dark they look black. Chelsea's a typical girl - likes shopping, parties and guys. She loves to talk and go out late at night. Rock music is her favourite and she likes to be an individual. Not many people at school like her, because she's so different from all the other girls. She has quite a few friends though most of them go to other schools. She hates school, because she has to take shit from everyone. She likes having her voice heard, so when people are rude to her she gives it right back to them. She's pretty crazy most of the time, but that's why I love her. She hangs around Jam, Trip, Hawk and I alot. She has two older brothers, who give her shit sometimes too. But she doesn't mind about that.

"Party tomorrow night. At Andrew's place," Chelsea said, nudging me in the ribs. I nodded slowly, feeling like I was going to fall asleep any moment. The bell rang for the start of class. I stood up, standing in front of them so the sun beat down on my back. Chelsea had on a white dress, grey tights and black tennis shoes. I realized after a moment of silence that I was staring at her, I quickly looked away towards the school building where the doors were now shut.

"Wanna go in now? If I'm late -"

"We'll get detention," Chelsea finished for me as she and Rachel stood up. "I know. Let's go," she said, smiling at me and making her way to the school building. I followed along with her, having to drag myself along. I hadn't gotten to sleep until four a.m last night and I was woken by my older brother Judd when he got home this morning at seven-thirty. I walked along as quickly as I could, leaving Chelsea and Rachel behind and hoping I wouldn't get caught being late.

* * *

I watched her as she talked excitedly to Rachel. She was twirling her hair in her fingers. I couldn't take my eyes off her. I kept my eyes on her as she grinned and talked, not letting Rachel get a word in. Right now it's just me and her. Nothing else matters. I kept staring, not even thinking about anything. I could no longer hear the noise the others were making.

"Lex! Would you listen to me?" Hawk hit me across the shoulder, bringing me back to reality. I jumped and looked to my left where he was sitting at a desk with his name written all over it.

"Huh? What'd you say?"

"Said Andrew's havin' a party tomorow night. Wanna go? S'posed to be some cool people there," he said. I nodded. Damn right there'd be some cool people there, I thought looking back over at Chelsea. She was still talking. And smiling. She was always smiling. I liked that.

"Ahem," I heard Jam cough. I looked at him. He was leaning over the desk, doing his Math work, oblivious to everything going on around him. I rolled my eyes and found myself looking back over at Chelsea. "Ahem," he coughed again. I looked back at him. You're disturbing me, I thought.

"Would ya shut up alright?" I said.

"Shut up," he said not looking at me and continuing with his work. Again my eyes wandered back over to Chelsea. This time she was already looking at me and smiling. My face instantly heated up and I could feel my cheeks burning. I looked down at my lap. Shit, I thought. I gotta stop staring at her. I need a distraction. I quickly looked to the front of the room where Mr. Lee was writing on the board and explaining a Math problem to the few kids who were listening. I pretended to be interested in what he was talking about, even though I couldn't hear a word he was saying. I kept my eyes on the board, using all my strength not to look over at Chelsea and see what she was doing. I quickly lost interest in pretending I was learning. I looked to my left where Hawk was turned around in his seat talking to Trip and some other guy. I looked to my right where Jam was sitting quietly, looking to the front of the room.

"Hey you comin' to Andrew's tomorow?" I asked him. He ignored me for a moment, concentrating hard on whatever he was looking at. Then he looked at me and thought for a second.

"Yeah, I hope so. Mom's been a real bitch this week," he said.

"Isn't she always?" I asked. He nodded.

"Yeah, but I'll come," he finished our conversation and leaned over the desk again, going back to his work. I sighed and pulled my phone from my pocket to check the time. 2.18pm. Good, just over an hour left of school. I sat back in my seat, absent-mindedly looking around the room. I started to sing a song in my head, to distract myself and waste time. _'Well, the night's_ _begun and you want some fun, Do you think you're gonna find it, You got to treat yourself like number one, Do you need to be reminded. . .'_

"Aren't we goin' to Lex's?" I heard Trip ask as a paper airplane hit my head. I turned around, Trip was looking at me, waiting for an answer and Hawk was leaning back in his seat.

"Yeah Lex, aren't we goin' to yours?" he asked. I shrugged.

"Whatever you wanna do," I said. I wasn't feeling so tired anymore since I drank a Coke in two minutes at lunch and had a chocolate bar. All the sugar and caffeine sure woke me up.

"Does little Jam have to go straight home after school or is he allowed out until 4 o' clock?" Hawk asked, leaning across my desk to see Jam.

"Fuck you. I'm allowed out," he said. Hawk nodded, and sat back properly, smirking the whole time. The bell rang a few minutes later. I jumped up, grabbed my notebook and pen and headed for the door. I had History now. To tell you the truth History was the only subject I didn't mind. We're learning about WW1 and WW2. It's pretty interesting so the time seems to go by faster. I have the class with Jam. Usually I wait around for him but not today. As I left the classroom he was still at his desk, finishing off his Math work. I walked out into the crowded hallway, pushing my way through the kids who were standing around doing nothing, making sure I yelled at the younger kids, just to scare them.

Jam caught up with me just before we entered our History class. We were the last to arrive, sitting in our usual seats at the back. The time went by quickly. I listened to most of what Ms. H said but when the bell rang fifty minutes later I couldn't remember a thing she'd told us. Jam and I walked out into the hall, headed for our lockers. When we got to them, Trip and Hawk weren't to be seen. I didn't worry about it. They were probably already out at the bus stop. Jam and I were at the bus stop within five minutes of the bell ringing. Record. The bus came a few minutes later. I looked around for Trip and Hawk before I got on, but I couldn't see them. We sat in silence as the other kids got on the bus. Jam and I have known each other since we were ten so sometimes we can sit around for ages not talking and it's not awkward at all. As the doors of the bus shut and we began to pull out into the street I noticed a few people running up to the bus, yelling at the driver to stop. Two of those people were Trip and Hawk. The driver ignored them and continued on.

Noone was home when we got back to my house. I left the front door unlocked so Trip and Hawk could come in when they arrived. We stopped at the kitchen to eat and went downstairs to the basement. The room was only lighted by the few small windows. I didn't turn on the lights, I liked it better with the dim lighting. Everything was as we'd left it the night before - magazines scattered on the floor, food packages left on the couch and of course, our instruments in the corner. Judd and my mom never came down here. Partly because I'd claimed the basement as my own room years ago and partly because they aren't at home much.

"Well, today was fun wasn't it?" I said and flopped down on the couch. I rubbed my eyes and looked around.

"Yeah, it is fun staring at Chelsea all day isn't it?" Jam replied and sat down beside me. I felt my face burn instantly and I looked down at the floor.

"What the hell are you talkin' about?" I asked, trying to sound as normal and confused as possible. He chuckled.

"Hey, I saw ya watching her all day," he said and I thought back to Math class when he was coughing. Was he trying to tell me to stop staring? I got up and walked over to my computer. I need to change the subject I thought as I sat down and turned on my computer. "Admit it. You're in love with Chelsea," he started to laugh as I felt my face burn a darker shade of red. I turned to face the computer screen so he wouldn't see.

"I don't love her," I said as if he was crazy.

"So you like her?" he asked.

"Shut the fuck up will ya?" I said, getting annoyed with him. "As if you'd even joke about that. And what do you mean I like her? You sound like a ten-year-old girl." He laughed and I heard him come over, pulling a chair along behind him. Don't come over here, I thought. The only reason I turned the computer on was so you didn't have to watch me turn red. Or else you'd know I was lying.

"C'mon Lex, I'm kidding. I mean I know you like her, but whatever. Who cares?" I ignored him as he sat down on the chair beside me and oI pened up iTunes. I clicked on a random song. R.A.M.O.N.E.S by The Ramones started to play. Jam watched me as I went on to different websites, bored. He didn't say anything. He must've known how annoyed I was with him. To tell you the truth I don't know why I'm annoyed. I don't care if anyone knows I like Chelsea. But I could feel myself getting more annoyed with him as the minutes went by. After a few minutes I could hear someone walking up the drive to the front door. I heard the front door slam shut.

"We're ho-ome!" I heard Trip yell. I looked at Jam who watched me, with a sort of scared expression on his face.

"You say anything to anyone about this and I'll kill you," I said to him in a stern tone of voice. He nodded. I think he was actually scared. I closed the website I had opened on the computer, leaving it on so we could listen to music. I left him sitting at the computer desk and flopped down on the couch again as Hawk and Trip came running down the stairs.

* * *

As we sat around smoking and talking about anything, I knew Lex was watching me. He would look my way every few minutes, as if reminding me about the threat he made before. Like he was daring me to say something. I wouldn't say anything though. Not because of his 'threat' but because I just wouldn't go around telling everyone what I'd been told. I don't know why he doesn't want anyone else to know. I guess Hawk is the kinda person who would tell people. Trip would probably forget about it anyway. And I can't figure out why he's so angry. I mean, sure he didn't want me to find out and I was laughing a little but really, does it matter that I know? Still, I tried to talk to him while we were sitting around but he ignored me.

Even as I left to go home a few hours later Lex didn't say anything to me. Hawk and Trip yelled out to me as I walked up the stairs. I listened for Lex's voice but he didn't say anything. He must be really pissed, I thought.

And even the next day at school he wouldn't talk to me much. He said hey when I met them at the lockers and when I sat down next to him in History. But that was it. At lunch hour Lex, Hawk, Trip, Chelsea and I sat around on the benches outside the front of the school building. It was a nice day out. The sky was blue and the sun shone brightly onto our faces. But it still didn't put me in a good mood. I sat next to Hawk on one bench, Trip sat on the bench opposite us and Lex sat beside Chelsea on the ground. I didn't feel like talking much. I leaned back on the bench and folded my arms, staring out into the street. They were talking about the party at Andrew's place tonight. I don't know if I'm gonna go. I kinda just feel like staying home. I doubt my mom would let me go out anyway. She yelled at me for half an hour yesterday when I got back at six and she said I had to be home at five-thirty. Mom's been really tight about what time I get home after school and whether or not I'm allowed out on the weekends. Usually I find ways to sneak out and she has never found out. But I just don't want to go out. I think I'll just stay home and watch a movie or something.

"You comin' partying with us tonight?" Hawk asked, taking a drag on his cigarette. I shrugged. If I said no he'd make jokes about my curfew. If I said yes he'd give me shit about it when I don't show up. "Alright. What's wrong with you? You've barely spoken all day?"

"His mommy didn't put a cookie in his lunch bag today," Lex said loudly. I looked over at him where he was sitting and looking at me, waiting for me to say something back. I dare you to say it, his expression was saying. I nodded.

"That's right," I said, earning a laugh from Trip who had been in his own world the last few minutes. They started talking about something else, I wasn't paying attention. Just silently counting the minutes until the bell rang for the end of lunch hour.

After school I stayed back a few minutes when the bell rang. I slowly stood up, gathered my things and walked along the hall to my locker. The guys weren't there, they were probably already at the bus stop. I opened my locker, put my things away and left the school in a hurry so I didn't miss the next bus. The school was pretty empty, I didn't realize how long I'd taken to leave class. I walked down the steps and to the end of the street where the bus stop was. As I got closer I could see someone sitting on the rusty bench they had at the bus stop. Lex. Of course, I thought rolling my eyes. Out of all the people who wait at this bus stop I had to wait with him. I sat at the other end of the bench, careful not to look at him. But I couldn't stop myself. I turned to him and he looked up at me.

"You know you didn't need to say that," I said. He shrugged and leaned back in his seat.

"Didn't need to say what?" he asked.

"Any of the few things you've said to me since yesterday," He leaned forward and stared out at the road for a moment. I thought he was just ignoring me but he spoke again.

"Yeah well I needed to make sure you wouldn't say anything," he said, still staring at the road.

"Why does it matter if I say anything? I haven't and I won't, but why does it matter so much?" I asked, suddenly feeling really annoyed with him. He sat up straight and looked at me.

"Because she's been my fucking best friend since third grade!" he yelled and I'm sure the whole neighbourhood heard. "She can't find out. If she did I'm not sure what she'd do but she wouldn't like it," We sat in silence for a minute. I didn't know what to say. I just told him what I thought.

"That's a real bad excuse," I sighed and left it at that. When the bus arrived he sat at the back and I sat at the front.

**This is the first fanfic I've written for Detroit Rock City. If you do or don't like it please tell me. If there's anything wrong with the story that you'd like to point out, tell me. I appreciate any feedback.**


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